Eleanor Elbaum

PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Eleanor Elbaum passed away quietly at home on Aug. 19, 2022. Ellie was born in Harbin, China to Russian parents Raisa and Zalman Dinaburg in 1932. The family moved to Japan in 1938 and spent the years of World War II in a remote mountain village. After the war, she attended U.S. military schools and ultimately Mills College and the University of Toronto to study nursing. In Toronto she met her husband Charles. They were married for 61 years until his passing in 2018.

Since the early 1960s, Ellie worked as a pediatric nurse at Rhode Island Hospital and Roger Williams Hospital. She was instrumental in establishment of the Hasbro Children's Hospital, where she was director of Pediatric Patient Services until her retirement in 1994. She was widely known in the Providence community for her efforts to promote children’s healthcare and women’s rights issues. She also developed close contacts with the Emeq Hospital in Afula, Israel. After retirement she served as co-chair of the Rhode Island chapter of the National Council of Jewish Women. She had many friends of all ages and was a role model for younger women in the balancing of family and career, combined with a spirit of social responsibility and volunteerism.

Ellie is survived by three sons and their spouses, Michael and Rivka, Dan and Deborah, and David and Kimberly Cooper. Together they have eight grandchildren, Hannah, Nathan, Noah, Carly, Eliza, Ori, Shira and Ilan.

Donations may be made to Hasbro Children's Hospital, in her name.